Heroes: One Piece
The Heroes brandname is a common brand used by Plex and Tokimeki Mall. Created in 2004 for figures of professional wrestlers, it quickly expanded to be applied to several well-known published or broadcasted Japanese series like Ultraman, Dragon Ball, Captain Tsubasa, Yuyu Hakusho and so on, leading to the creation of several Heroes figure series. Their common points are the following: *figures are about 4-5 cm tall, *their rendering is focused on character's facial expression, leading to a head/body proportion of nearly 1:2. It should be noted that regular Super Deformed rendering makes it with a 1:3 ratio and normal proportion should be between 1:6 and 1:8. Product Information The Heroes brand is really prolific in the sense that several labels are running in parallel: *Since 2004, Pro Kaku Heroes, the very first label under the Heroes brandname (pro kaku プロ格 is a term designing professional fighters). *Since 2006, Tokusatsu Heroes (tokusatsu 特撮 is a term meaning litterally special effects, but used to design live series using a lot of special effects like the sentai). *Since 2007, Anime Heroes and Manga Heroes. *In 2008, the Super (超) versions of the 2 above labels. *Since 2009, Anichara Heroes (anichara is a Japanese word issued from the contraction of the English loanwords Anime and Character). *Since 2010, Chara-Heroes. Besides those main labels, there also are one-shot sets or short series that may use their unique labels or even not use the Heroes term at all, e.g. Chara-Pedia Heroes - Naruto Shippuden (for Character Encyclopedia), Berserk Figure Collection or Magazine 50th Collection. Nearly all of the Heroes labels sport the same English subtitle Mini Big Head Figure, so all those series are mostly known under this generic name in the West. They're released as sets of 12 to 24 figures, with an added secret or alpha figure. Each set also generally come out along one or several limited edition figures, produced by Tokimeki Mall under their Charazo trademark, and are variations of other figures from the set, with different colors or alternate poses. For the One Piece series, Plex first came into an agreement with ZaccaPAP to produce the first set of Anime Heroes One Piece, subtitled Pocket Figure Series for the occasion, and then moved on to its regular association with Charazo to produce the following Anime / Anichara Heroes sets. One edition is generally composed of 24 figures, 1 secret, and 3 limited edition figures. This series is quite interesting because it features characters never or rarely picked up before. There are 3 ways to purchase figures from this line: *Get hold of the regular box of 20 figures, *Order the special 2-box set, which come with the limited edition figures, available till those limited versions are out of order, *Order the 20-box set, with a discount of 20%. One Piece Anime Heroes - Winter Island 「アニメヒーローズ ワンピース ～冬島編～」 :Anime Heroes One Piece ～Fuyujima Hen～ *Content: 18 figures + 1 secret (Ace) + 1 limited edition (Walking Point Chopper) *Release date: August 26th 2008 *Price: ¥4725 per box of 18 figures, ¥263 per figure *http://www.zaccapap.jp/36_243.html *http://www.plex-web.com/products/toy/lineup/onepiece/popup/4560173-82146-9.html To obtain the limited edition figure of Chopper, you had to order 2 boxes of this set from the manufacturer (so you got a total of 36 + 1 figures)Anime Heroes - One Piece - Winter Island Ed. Tony Tony Chopper Maniac blog. Retrieved on 2009-03-30.. It was available at a time from the ZaccaPAP site but now this marketing operation expired, hence the "limited edition" name. Anime Heroes - Vol.1 Breaking Into Grand Line 「アニメヒーローズ ワンピースvol.1 ～グランドライン突入編～」 :Anime Heroes One Piece Vol.1 ～Grand Line Totsunyu Hen～ *Content: 24 figures + 1 secret (Gol D. Roger) + 3 limited edition (Going Merry bronze version) *Release date: April 28th 2009 *Price: ¥5250 per box of 20 figures *Special feature: 3 figures (and their alternative colored versions) can be combined to make a complete Going Merry *http://www.zaccapap.jp/36_323.html To obtain the 3 limited edition figures of Going Merry, you had to order 2 boxes of this set from the manufacturer (so you got a total of 40 + 3 figures). On May 4th 2010, this set will be re-released, this time with another limited edition Going Merry by Charazo: Going Merry silver ver. These 3 figures will be produced with a quantity of only 100 issues each. *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail/0/1/20090393428/000001050190007/ *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20090393428/ Anichara Heroes - Vol.2 Arabasta Fierce Fighting 「アニキャラヒーローズ ワンピースvol.2 ～アラバスタ激闘編～」 :Anichara Heroes One Piece Vol.2 ～Arabasta Gekitou Hen～ *Content: 24 figures + 1 secret (Bon Kurei impersonating Luffy) + 3 limited edition (Marine boat clear blue version) *Release date: Early October 2009 *Price: ¥5250 per box of 20 figures *Special features: **3 figures (and their alternative colored versions) can be combined to make a complete Marine boat. **Princess Vivi and Carue can be combined to make Vivi sit on Carue. *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20090893612/ On October 19th 2010, this set will be re-released, this time with 3 new limited edition figures, replacing the Marine boat: Ace, Vivi and Karue clear colour version. *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20100994306/ *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail/0/1/20100994306/000001050/ Anichara Heroes - Vol.3 Skypiea 「アニキャラヒーローズ ワンピースvol.3 ～空島編～」 :Anichara Heroes One Piece Vol.3 ～Skypiea Hen～ *Content: 24 figures + 1 secret (Flying Merry Go) + 3 limited edition (Ark Maxim clear yellow version) *Release date: Early February 2010 *Price: ¥263 per figure *Special features: **3 figures can be combined to make the Ark Maxim. **Gan Fall and Pierre can be combined to make Gan Fall ride on Pierre. *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail/0/1/20091293850/000001050190007/ *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20091293849/ On December 13th 2010, this set will be re-released, this time with 3 new limited edition figures, replacing Ark Maxim: Calgara, God Enel and Montblanc Noland clear colour version. *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20101094449/ *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail/0/1/20101094449/000001050/ Anichara Heroes - Vol.4 Water Seven 「アニキャラヒーローズ ワンピースvol.4 ～ウォーターセブン編+α～」 :Anichara Heroes One Piece Vol.4 ～Water Seven Hen + α～ *Content: 24 figures + 1 secret (Afro Luffy) + 3 limited edition (Thousand Sunny Go clear orange version) *Release date: May 26th 2010 if pre-ordered from Tokimeki Mall, late June 2010 in shops. *Price: ¥5250 per box of 20 figures, ¥10,500 for the special 2-box set and the 3 limited ed. figures, ¥84,000 for 20 boxes *Special features: **3 figures can be combined to make the Thousand Sunny Go. *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20100393960/ Anichara Heroes - Vol.5 Enies Lobby 「アニキャラヒーローズ ワンピースvol.5　～エニエス・ロビー編～」 :Anichara Heroes One Piece Vol.5 ～Enies Lobby Hen～ *Content: 24 figures + 1 secret (Post-Gear 3 Chibi Luffy) + 2 limited edition (Monster Chopper clear pink version) *Release date: August 31th 2010 if pre-ordered from Tokimeki Mall, late September 2010 for general availability. *Price: ¥5250 per box of 20 figures, ¥10,500 for the special 2-box set and the 2 limited ed. figures, ¥84,000 for 20 boxes *Special features: **2 figures can be combined to make Monster Point Chopper. *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20100794191/ Anichara Heroes - Vol.6 Thriller Bark 「アニキャラヒーローズ ワンピースvol.6　～スリラーバーク編+α～」 :Anichara Heroes One Piece Vol.6 ～Thriller Bark Hen + α～ *Content: 24 figures + 1 secret (plain face Duval) + 2 limited edition (Oars clear purple version) *Release date: February 2011 *Price: ¥5250 per box of 20 figures, ¥10,500 for the special 2-box set and the 2 limited ed. figures *Special features: **2 figures can be combined to make Oars. **Duval can be combined with Motobaro, letting him to ride his bison pet. *http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20101294656/ Anichara Heroes - Vol.7 Sabaody Archipelago 「アニキャラヒーローズ ワンピースvol.7 ～シャボンディ諸島編～」 :Anichara Heroes One Piece Vol.7 ～Sabaody Shotō Hen～ *Content: 24 figures + 1 secret Kuma + 3 limited editions ( Clear Yellow, Clear Blue and Clear Pink)*Release date: May 31th 2011 when pre-ordering from Karuwaza Online *Price: ¥263 per figure, ¥5,250 per box of 20 figures, ¥10,500 for the special 2-box set and the 3 limited ed. figures, ¥84,000 for 20 boxes. *http://karuwazaonline.jp/pc/dynamicContents.do?___SHOP_NO=00000003&f=30110300001 One Piece x Panson Works Mini Figure Collection *Content: 12 figures + 1 secret (Shanks) + 1 limited edition (Luffy Gomu Gomu Ver.) *Release date: December 14th 2009 *Price: ¥315 per figure Chara-Heroes - Figure Collection Vol.2 *Content: 15 figures + 1 secret (Pandaman) + 1 limited edition (Luffy Gomu Gomu Blue Shirt Ver.) *Release date: mid-January 2011 *Price: ¥4725 per box of 15 figures (with or without the limited edition figure), ¥8,505 for 2 boxes and ¥18,900 for 5 boxes References Links Chara-Heroes, the dedicated site to the Chara/Anichara/Anime Heroes various series. 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